Yaya Toure has welcomed FIFA's new system of match observers to monitor incidents of racism and discrimination at FIFA World Cup qualifiers in the build-up to the 2018 tournament in Russia - and says some form of abuse can 'break' players.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- Zenit St. Petersburg's star striker Hulk says he encounters racism in "almost every game" in Russia and the Brazil international fears it could tarnish the country when it hosts the 2018 World Cup.

Hulk, the most expensive signing in Russian Premier League history, has repeatedly faced monkey chants in Russia and also accused a referee of racially abusing him.

"If [racism] happens in the World Cup, it will be really gross and really ugly. Usually it happens when Russian...